Top Ten Tuesday: Bye Bye, Books!

Happy Tuesday!! Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is a rather sad one: it asks us to share ten books we’re not interested in reading anymore. I’m notorious for abandoning TBRs in order to read whatever I’m in the mood for in that particular moment, so there are MANY books that I have not intention of reading anymore. However, I’d like to give a disclaimer that when it comes to books I never say never, so none of these are really set in stone. Without further ado…

What books are you not interested in reading anymore? What do you think of the ones on my list? Let me know in the comments section below!

I’ve only read Armada from this list – it was actually quite good but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as Ready Player One. This list was difficult to do because I really don’t like to say ‘never’ – I think it’s not so much saying goodbye to these books as coming to the understanding that I’ll probably never read them due to time constraints.
Lynn 😀

Go Set A Watchman did nothing for me, but I think the media campaign gave us unrealistic expectations. It is interesting when you read it in the context of TKaM and think about how Harper Lee built that character. It was like seeing some of JK Rowling’s early scribbles for Harry Potter at the British Library. Without spoiling too much, the villain in that piece is an evil goblin.

I actually liked Go Set a Watchman (unpopular opinion I know!) I felt Atticus’ character was realistic, even given his actions and behavior in TKAM. I also felt like Scout faced a challenge as an adult that was very understandable. TKAM was better, but I still thought this was interesting.

You’re not missing much with The Girl on the Train though. I figured out the twist about mid-way through the book and then thought: “no, that can’t be it. It’s too obvious…”

In a good way! 🙂 “As a writer, I find it interesting to contemplate the changes made from this manuscript to the final (To Kill a Mockingbird.) I find the final product subtler, more artistic, and more joyful. This one is blunt, & in places reads like a battering ram disguised as a novel. I do not object to the battering ram.” (from my goodreads review.)

You probably aren’t reading it anyway, so I will say a few things in a bid to persuade you. Keep in mind I shake your hand either way, but I might as well say more than, “Oh, it’s good.” 🙂

Minor spoilers you likely already heard about in the press releases and such: So, here’s my take. Scout is grown in Go Set a Watchman. She goes back to Maycomb and sees things a little more clearly. She sees Atticus more clearly. What you find out about Atticus challenges and refines how you view men like (say, for instance, Abraham Lincoln.) Is a good man good because he does the right things? Is a good man good because he THINKS the right things? Do we make heroes out of flawed men — why? What do we gain by not seeing them clearly? How are we swept into burying their thinking for them? And what do we do when we do see them clearly? How do we process the fall of our heroes? How do we define our own generation?

All relevant questions! It’s strange to read it because ostensibly it’s a sequel, but honestly, it’s merely the germ of To Kill a Mockingbird. So you’re looking around while you read saying THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO MAYCOMB, WHY! Then you look up “Maycomb” in Google and find out, yes, that’s what happened. REALITY. And you’re thinking, “WHAT IS GOING ON MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IS GONE.” And that could be super stressful and mind-shattering but this isn’t really a sequel. It’s a first draft. So it takes a bit to wrap your mind around that.

So then you’re thinking, “Why didn’t they publish this, anyway?” Well, America wasn’t ready. Is my guess. TOO BLUNT. They told her to zoom in on a little moment in Go Set a Watchman & tell THAT story. Why? For its literary impact (probably, yes), or because it might have been easier on America (undeniably, yes)? And why does Atticus seem so different in To Kill a Mockingbird? Why did they change him?

Because, you see, he was never what you see in TKAM. GSAW came first. When you read GSAW (rough draft that it is), you find out what someone didn’t feel America was ready to see, and you start to wonder why they constructed a hero out of Atticus for TKAM, and you start to see things about Atticus you hadn’t noticed in the first book — hints that he is being written through a child’s perspective in TKAM — not an adult’s. GSAW shows us the adult looking at him for the first time. It’s relevant because every single person who says NO I DON’T WANT ATTICUS TO CHANGE is still Scout when she was six. Sorry. But plugging your ears and saying NO I DON’T WANT HIM TO CHANGE is ducking from fact. He doesn’t change. GSAW was written BEFORE TKAM. He was the man you see in GSAW BEFORE the man you see in TKAM. Fact. Lee shows us him through Scout’s adult eyes, and the story is different, though in all honesty, nothing actually changes about Atticus. What changes is the perspective on him. A mature, skeptical viewpoint, as opposed to that of a six year old.

Now, I have no idea what to think of the scandal surrounding the publication. Did Lee know? No idea. That’s why I read a library copy rather than paying for it. No need to fund deception. But I do know this is her work — what she originally set out to say. And it’s TOUGH to read. The beginning is pretty slow. The construction is clearly a work in progress. It isn’t until about 3/4 in that you get to the point. But the point, in my opinion, could very well be Lee saying, “There, America. There’s your hero. There’s every hero you’ve loved in American history. Now figure it out.” And she isn’t saying, “Too bad for you.” She’s saying BE THE CHANGE. BE THE NEW GENERATION. THINK. BE THE WATCHMAN. BE SKEPTICAL. LOOOOOOOOOOK.

It’s not a perfect novel. But she wanted to share it with her own generation, and they weren’t ready. If she didn’t want to share it with this one, shame on those who published it. But if she did, I think it’d be such a shame if our generation didn’t even try. And here’s the way I worked it out: she did write it.

Only my thoughts. It’s no particular skin off my nose if you read it or not, but I think that avoiding it lest the other book be spoiled is sort of Lee’s point… xx

I’m with you, honestly! I absolutely despise and detest To Kill a Mockingbird. I’ve read it three times, and hated it more with each rereading. But I actually enjoyed Go Set a Watchman. It’s not the greatest, but I didn’t hate it, so there’s that.

Well I didn’t hate TKAM but I think that Go Set A Watchman is a natural progression from there. The characters felt consistent to me. I think that some of the way people see the characters in TKAM is rather childish. That makes sense because the story is being told by a child. But Go Set A Watchman is an attempt to reconcile that child’s understanding with an adult’s perception.

I never actually started Armada, but I’ve heard some mixed reviews and thought that Ready Player One was okay, so I’m not sure if I want to go on with another of Ernest Cline’s books. But I could be persuaded otherwise in the future!

I’m so sad to see To All the Boys and The Wrath and the Dawn on this list, I hope you’ll want to read them at some point… someday ahah, both were great, I loved them. But well,… you wrote, never say never, so I will keep on hoping haha 🙂
Lovely list, Holly! 🙂

To All the Boys — Cute, but I didn’t finish the series. It actually made my list!
The Girl on the Train — Great twist but so dark and boring.
Red Queen — I actually liked this one. But the next book ruined it. Plus, I kept reading her name as Bone Marrow instead of Mare Barrow.
Saint Anything — You should read this one. It’s one of my favorite by her! So good!
Isla — Favorite book in that series, but I don’t blame you!
Armada — I actually listened to this one. I loved Wil Wheaton’s narration. The story was a little too much like RP1, but it was good. I don’t think it’s a have to read, though.

I don’t think you’re missing much with The Red Queen. It’s basically every other dystopian out there jumbled together along with an annoying love triangle and a poorly executed plot twist at the end to create a cliffhanger.

I am mourning the fact that To All the Boys and the Wrath and the Dawn are on your list. But I will be okay. Ever since I heard about the troubling way in which Go Set a Watchman came to be, I’ve been avoiding it like the plague.

I certainly can agree with some of the ones on this list, though the only one of them I’ve read for myself was Go Set A Watchman. It was alright, but if you don’t feel the need to read it anymore, I wouldn’t tell you you’re making a mistake. It was interesting, but didn’t touch its predecessor.

I haven’t read any of these. But yes, I wanted to read Go Set A Watchman and To All the Boys series at some point. I am not sure though when that time will come 😛 And also I want to read the Anna series. I have the physical copies too now 😛 So I guess it’s time to read them finally?

Very fair! I didn’t like Isla and the Happily Ever After at all, I’ve totally lost interest in Go Set a Watchman, Throne of Glass just wasn’t my jam, and Lara Jean is definitely aimed at one certain group 🙂

Despite the fact I haven’t read any in the series, I’m pretty much over the “Throne of Glass” books. They intimidate me (and they keep getting longer!), plus it seems like the series is never going to end. I am still interested in Jenny Han’s, ‘Isla’ and “Red Queen.” 🙂